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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
R&B's On a Roll in '07, March 15, 2007
I believe it was just a couple of weeks ago I asked myself if neo-soul/R&B singer Musiq was ever going to return back to the R&B world. When I saw first single "B.U.D.D.Y." making a dint in the Pop and R&B charts, I arrived at my answer. It wasn't until I saw an advertisement in a Best Buy ad that I knew that LUVANMUSIQ was bowing Tuesday, March 13. Honestly, I wasn't the least bit disappointed by Musiq's album. There are few R&B artists who exude the soulfulness of Musiq; most of those breeds of artist (Maxwell, D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu etc...) haven't returned with new material "for a minute". To see the neo-soul movement beginning to take off again (via John Legend, Anthony Hamilton, and etc...) is great. Sure, LUVANMUSIQ has its over-"urbanized" moments, but there are few of them in the very tight forty-nine minute duration.
The album opens surprisingly with first single "B.U.D.D.Y.", surely the most unexpected hit from Musiq which is actually doing fairly well on the singles charts. The production is very soulful, reminiscent of old school 80's R&B production, evident via the sample which features horns, 'whirly' electric pianos, and deep, throbbing bass lines. Most shocking about "B.U.D.D.Y." is while you know that Musiq isn't selling out with his 'hip-hop influenced vocals', he isn't afraid to surprise the listener with his "spoken" vocals. "Ms. Philadelphia", the second track from LUVANMUSIQ isn't nearly as commercial as "B.U.D.D.Y." (a surprise itself), but it is best that it isn't. The sample of Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" works perfectly here, coupled with freshened drum programming, and exceptional songwriting and soulful vocal performance. Despite an entirely too long four year hiatus, you feel that Musiq truly hasn't lost a beat; he is still as strong as he was in the early 00s.
"Teachme" is very reminiscent of the classic six-feel R&B number. The simple production with piano, guitar, and bass is great; it leaves enough "space" within the production for Musiq to allow his lead vocals and backgrounds take over. The hook here is among the very best of the album, and easily memorable. One general strong point about LUVANMUSIQ in general is that the material resonates, something that can't be said about some R&B albums or albums in general today. Another pleasant surprise follows via the Saadiq/Ozuna assisted "Betterman", easily my favorite of the album. The production work is at its best, and the song is incredibly catchy. Maybe it isn't a great choice for a proceeding single, but it is definitely a hot track with it's rocking bluesy keyboard work and Musiq's incredibly resonant-tenor vocals. Brilliant.
"The Questions" doesn't resonate with me as much personally as the previous 4 tracks, but it isn't bad in the least. In fact, Musiq's tone maybe among the smoothest here compared to the rest of the album. The bare bones piano accompaniament works very effective there. If you want a great R&B slow jam, look no further than the great "Today", one of the more sincere R&B ballads I've heard for a while. The vocals cause the listener to have chills. The songwriting is incredibly potent and strong here. Musiq does make a good decision to speed up things with the great uptempo "Make You Happy", which still has the vintage production edge, though coupled with enough contemporary flare to captivate a young urban audience.
"Ridiculous" and "Millionaire" also prove to be consistent as well, making LUVANMUSIQ nine tracks strong, absent of any true filler material. The production fo "Rediculous" specifically is among the very strongest of the entire album. "Take You There" once again slows things down, again accentuating Musiq's strong points, urban balladry. Here, there is definitely a retro-soul feel, keeping alive the influence of soul greats Bobby Womack, Marvin Gaye, and even 80s veterans Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson, and Keith Sweat. "Lullaby" proves to be another strong ballad and "Greatest Love" features lush synthesizers, background vocals, and Musiq's beautiful resonating tenor. It proves to be a great end to a filler-material free album.
There are very few albums out today that come close to being as consistent as Musiq's LUVANMUSIQ. The Only R&B album of 2007 that is as consistent is the great posthumously release Gerald LeVert album, IN MY SONGS, which has no filler material whatsoever. Great album, in my opinion. 4 stars, Musiq.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine return to form, April 15, 2007
Musiq stated in an interview that the reason he dropped "Soulchild" from his name after his first album Aijuswanaseing is because that he didn't feel he'd perfected his craft yet. Well, since he reattached it for his fourth album Luvanmusiq, it's probably safe to assume that he believes he has now indeed perfected the craft. And I have to agree.
To be honest, this is only the second album from Musiq that I even like (Aijuswanaseing was the first). I thought Juslisen was overrated, and I REALLY didn't like Soulstar. The main problem with both of those albums was that a lot of the songs sounded exactly like "Just Friends (Sunny)". Because of this, I was worried when I first heard "B.U.D.D.Y." True, it doesn't share the same beat, but it's about the same topic: he can't get a girl out of his mind but they don't have to be a couple. Fortunately, the rest of the album is more varied.
As usual, there are ballads aplenty on here, like "Today", "Teachme" and "Thequestions". But while each of those slow jams are good in their own right, the best ones would have to be the two at the end of the album: "Lullaby" and "Greatestlove". But uptempo tracks like "Millionaire" also impress. "Ridiculous" is pretty good too; that is, except for the part that says "Just being with you is the truth/Without you I'm a liar".
As a few other reviewers hinted at, it's also good that Musiq learned that a 47-minute album of great material is better than a 75+ minute album with a lot of filler, as he tended to do in the past. This is his best album in a while, so listening to it will really have you lovin' Musiq.
Anthony Rupert
P.S. In response to another reviewer, blue-eyed soul only refers to NON-blacks that make soul music.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Musiq Went & Did It, March 14, 2007
I have been anxiously waiting for the 4th release of the Philadelphia native and I am not disappointed. No, it is not as ear-catching as the monumental neo-soul classic Juslisen but this is still better than 95% of the music out there right now. Yeah, Buddy is a good song using the sample from Taana Gardner's classic Heartbeat from the 80s but there is so much more. I also love Ms. Philadelphia (cowritten by Ne-Yo), Teach Me, Betterman, Ridiculous, and Millionaire (coproduced by Marc Gordon who was a member of the group LeVert). I do understand how some folks say that Musiq's music kinda sound the same and I would love to hear a bit more variety outside of being friends with the ladies but considering the choice of music today, it is so refreshing to hear about something that is not bump & grind. I read the comment by Gospelgal that he has the "same sound that everyone else in soul and R&B is regurgitating". That is some BS!!! Without profanity, let's just say the Gospelgal has no idea what she is talking about. Being the owner and listener of over 2000 CDs in my collection and Musiq's complete discography, I know the in-sound being used over and over and Musiq's sound is uniquely his. As I stated, this CD is a very good one, not as great as Juslisen but very very good indeed. This CD will be in heavy rotation for the next few weeks. Go and cop it. Peace!!!
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~ Musiq (Soulchild)
~ Musiq (Soulchild)
~ Musiq (Soulchild)
~ Ne-Yo
~ Jill Scott
by Musiq Soulchild 
